Matthew 6:16

NET Bible® (New English Translation)

Proper Fasting“When you fast, do not look sullen like the hypocrites, for they make their faces unattractive so that people will see them fasting. I tell you the truth, they have their reward!

Additional Resources

Referenced Verses

  • Isa 58:3-5 : 3 They lament,‘Why don’t you notice when we fast? Why don’t you pay attention when we humble ourselves?’ Look, at the same time you fast, you satisfy your selfish desires, you oppress your workers. 4 Look, your fasting is accompanied by arguments, brawls, and fistfights. Do not fast as you do today, trying to make your voice heard in heaven. 5 Is this really the kind of fasting I want? Do I want a day when people merely humble themselves, bowing their heads like a reed and stretching out on sackcloth and ashes? Is this really what you call a fast, a day that is pleasing to the LORD?
  • Matt 6:2 : 2 Thus whenever you do charitable giving, do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in synagogues and on streets so that people will praise them. I tell you the truth, they have their reward!
  • Matt 6:5 : 5 Private Prayer“Whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, because they love to pray while standing in synagogues and on street corners so that people can see them. Truly I say to you, they have their reward!
  • Luke 18:12 : 12 I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of everything I get.’
  • Ps 35:13 : 13 When they were sick, I wore sackcloth, and refrained from eating food.(If I am lying, may my prayers go unanswered!)
  • Ps 69:10 : 10 I weep and refrain from eating food, which causes others to insult me.
  • Ps 109:24 : 24 I am so starved my knees shake; I have turned into skin and bones.
  • 1 Cor 7:5 : 5 Do not deprive each other, except by mutual agreement for a specified time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then resume your relationship, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.
  • Acts 10:30 : 30 Cornelius replied,“Four days ago at this very hour, at three o’clock in the afternoon, I was praying in my house, and suddenly a man in shining clothing stood before me
  • Matt 9:14-15 : 14 The Superiority of the New Then John’s disciples came to Jesus and asked,“Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples don’t fast?” 15 Jesus said to them,“The wedding guests cannot mourn while the bridegroom is with them, can they? But the days are coming when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and then they will fast.
  • Mark 2:18 : 18 The Superiority of the New Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. So they came to Jesus and said,“Why do the disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples don’t fast?”
  • Luke 2:37 : 37 She had lived as a widow since then for eighty-four years. She never left the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day.
  • Dan 9:3 : 3 So I turned my attention to the Lord God to implore him by prayer and requests, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.
  • Zech 7:3-5 : 3 by asking both the priests of the temple of the LORD of Heaven’s Armies and the prophets,“Should we weep in the fifth month, fasting as we have done over the years?” 4 The message of the LORD of Heaven’s Armies then came to me, 5 “Speak to all the people and priests of the land as follows:‘When you fasted and lamented in the fifth and seventh months through all these seventy years, did you truly fast for me– for me, indeed?
  • Mal 3:14 : 14 You have said,‘It is useless to serve God. How have we been helped by keeping his requirements and going about like mourners before the LORD of Heaven’s Armies?
  • 2 Sam 12:16 : 16 Then David prayed to God for the child and fasted. He would even go and spend the night lying on the ground.
  • 2 Sam 12:21 : 21 His servants said to him,“What is this that you have done? While the child was still alive, you fasted and wept. Once the child was dead you got up and ate food!”
  • 1 Kgs 21:27 : 27 When Ahab heard these words, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and fasted. He slept in sackcloth and walked around dejected.
  • Neh 1:4 : 4 When I heard these things I sat down abruptly, crying and mourning for several days. I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven.
  • Esth 4:16 : 16 “Go, assemble all the Jews who are found in Susa and fast in my behalf. Don’t eat and don’t drink for three days, night or day. My female attendants and I will also fast in the same way. Afterward I will go to the king, even though it violates the law. If I perish, I perish!”
  • Acts 13:2-3 : 2 While they were serving the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said,“Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 Then, after they had fasted and prayed and placed their hands on them, they sent them off.
  • Acts 14:23 : 23 When they had appointed elders for them in the various churches, with prayer and fasting they entrusted them to the protection of the Lord in whom they had believed.
  • 2 Cor 6:5 : 5 in beatings, in imprisonments, in riots, in troubles, in sleepless nights, in hunger,
  • 2 Cor 11:27 : 27 in hard work and toil, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, many times without food, in cold and without enough clothing.

Similar Verses (AI)

These verses are found using AI-powered semantic similarity based on meaning and context. Results may occasionally include unexpected connections.

  • Matt 6:17-19
    3 verses
    87%

    17When you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,

    18so that it will not be obvious to others when you are fasting, but only to your Father who is in secret. And your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you.

    19Lasting Treasure“Do not accumulate for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and devouring insect destroy and where thieves break in and steal.

  • Matt 6:1-8
    8 verses
    82%

    1Pure-hearted Giving“Be careful not to display your righteousness merely to be seen by people. Otherwise you have no reward with your Father in heaven.

    2Thus whenever you do charitable giving, do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in synagogues and on streets so that people will praise them. I tell you the truth, they have their reward!

    3But when you do your giving, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,

    4so that your gift may be in secret. And your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you.

    5Private Prayer“Whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, because they love to pray while standing in synagogues and on street corners so that people can see them. Truly I say to you, they have their reward!

    6But whenever you pray, go into your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you.

    7When you pray, do not babble repetitiously like the Gentiles, because they think that by their many words they will be heard.

    8Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

  • Isa 58:3-6
    4 verses
    75%

    3They lament,‘Why don’t you notice when we fast? Why don’t you pay attention when we humble ourselves?’ Look, at the same time you fast, you satisfy your selfish desires, you oppress your workers.

    4Look, your fasting is accompanied by arguments, brawls, and fistfights. Do not fast as you do today, trying to make your voice heard in heaven.

    5Is this really the kind of fasting I want? Do I want a day when people merely humble themselves, bowing their heads like a reed and stretching out on sackcloth and ashes? Is this really what you call a fast, a day that is pleasing to the LORD?

    6No, this is the kind of fast I want. I want you to remove the sinful chains, to tear away the ropes of the burdensome yoke, to set free the oppressed, and to break every burdensome yoke.

  • Matt 6:14-15
    2 verses
    73%

    14“For if you forgive others their sins, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.

    15But if you do not forgive others, your Father will not forgive you your sins.

  • Matt 23:5
    73%

    5They do all their deeds to be seen by people, for they make their phylacteries wide and their tassels long.

  • Matt 9:14-15
    2 verses
    72%

    14The Superiority of the New Then John’s disciples came to Jesus and asked,“Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples don’t fast?”

    15Jesus said to them,“The wedding guests cannot mourn while the bridegroom is with them, can they? But the days are coming when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and then they will fast.

  • Luke 5:33-35
    3 verses
    72%

    33The Superiority of the New Then they said to him,“John’s disciples frequently fast and pray, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours continue to eat and drink.”

    34So Jesus said to them,“You cannot make the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them, can you?

    35But those days are coming, and when the bridegroom is taken from them, at that time they will fast.”

  • Mark 2:18-20
    3 verses
    72%

    18The Superiority of the New Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. So they came to Jesus and said,“Why do the disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples don’t fast?”

    19Jesus said to them,“The wedding guests cannot fast while the bridegroom is with them, can they? As long as they have the bridegroom with them they do not fast.

    20But the days are coming when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and at that time they will fast.

  • Matt 5:16
    72%

    16In the same way, let your light shine before people, so that they can see your good deeds and give honor to your Father in heaven.

  • Matt 15:7-8
    2 verses
    71%

    7Hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied correctly about you when he said,

    8‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me,

  • Luke 6:22-23
    2 verses
    71%

    22“Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you and insult you and reject you as evil on account of the Son of Man!

    23Rejoice in that day, and jump for joy, because your reward is great in heaven. For their ancestors did the same things to the prophets.

  • Matt 23:28
    71%

    28In the same way, on the outside you look righteous to people, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

  • Mark 7:6
    70%

    6He said to them,“Isaiah prophesied correctly about you hypocrites, as it is written:‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.

  • Matt 5:11-12
    2 verses
    69%

    11“Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you and say all kinds of evil things about you falsely on account of me.

    12Rejoice and be glad, because your reward is great in heaven, for they persecuted the prophets before you in the same way.

  • Isa 3:9
    69%

    9The look on their faces testifies to their guilt; like the people of Sodom they openly boast of their sin. Woe to them! For they bring disaster on themselves.

  • Luke 16:15
    69%

    15But Jesus said to them,“You are the ones who justify yourselves in men’s eyes, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly prized among men is utterly detestable in God’s sight.

  • Matt 23:25-26
    2 verses
    69%

    25“Woe to you, experts in the law and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.

    26Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup, so that the outside may become clean too!

  • Luke 6:26
    68%

    26“Woe to you when all people speak well of you, for their ancestors did the same things to the false prophets.

  • Luke 6:36-37
    2 verses
    68%

    36Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

    37Do Not Judge Others“Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven.

  • Luke 18:12
    68%

    12I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of everything I get.’

  • Luke 12:56
    68%

    56You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky, but how can you not know how to interpret the present time?

  • Luke 6:29
    68%

    29To the person who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other as well, and from the person who takes away your coat, do not withhold your tunic either.

  • Matt 16:3
    68%

    3and in the morning,‘It will be stormy today, because the sky is red and darkening.’ You know how to judge correctly the appearance of the sky, but you cannot evaluate the signs of the times.

  • Zech 7:5
    67%

    5“Speak to all the people and priests of the land as follows:‘When you fasted and lamented in the fifth and seventh months through all these seventy years, did you truly fast for me– for me, indeed?

  • Luke 6:31
    67%

    31Treat others in the same way that you would want them to treat you.

  • Matt 7:5
    67%

    5You hypocrite! First remove the beam from your own eye, and then you can see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

  • Ps 69:10
    67%

    10I weep and refrain from eating food, which causes others to insult me.